Sydney, New South Wales Sep 6, 2020 (Issuewire.com) - The Sydney Women’s International Film Festival (SWIFF), supported by the City of Sydney, is delighted to announce the United Cinemas Opera Quays as the venue for its inaugural festival to be held on 26–27 November 2020.
The United Cinemas Opera Quays (formerly Dendy) is nestled on the edge of Circular Quay alongside the Sydney Opera House, providing incomparable views of the surrounding harbour and featuring luxury cinema seating—making it the perfect host for SWIFF’s exciting program of screenings and networking events.
As a recognised UNESCO City of Film, Sydney is an ideal location for a film festival showcasing the work of female film-makers. Support for SWIFF from the City of Sydney underscores the festival’s contribution to enhancing public exposure to cinematic stories by women, as well as backing the creativity that drives women in film to share those same stories.
Festival Director, Clare McCann, conceived SWIFF to help address the gender imbalance in the film industry, and partnered with Marketing Director, Suzie Watt, to launch the not-for-profit and provide greater opportunities for female film-makers to share their stories with local audiences. As an independent director, writer and actor, Clare’s own debut feature film ‘Benefited’, recently launched on a multitude of on-demand platforms. She has intimate knowledge of the challenges faced by women in the film industry and seeks to inspire other women creatives through SWIFF.
“This is a time for women’s stories and female film-makers to create more and collaborate. My hope is for SWIFF to contribute to a landscape that better enables them.”
The support generously provided to SWIFF by the City of Sydney, as part of the City’s cultural program, will help ensure the SWIFF delivers a world-class event celebrating female creativity and encouraging cultural engagement.
“SWIFF’s selection as a City of Sydney grant recipient has been a wonderful endorsement of what we’re hoping to achieve with this festival, and the Committee is excited to bring the program to life in November”, Suzie Watt noted.
Recognising the best in local and international film and screenplays created by women, SWIFF will award winners for Best Feature, Best Short, Best Documentary Feature, Best Documentary Short, Best Animation, Best Children’s Film, Best Feature Screenplay and Best Short Screenplay.
Anyone interested in keeping up to date with SWIFF can subscribe to the festival mailing list at www.swiff.org.au.
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About SWIFF
The Sydney Women's International Film Festival (SWIFF) is a film festival created to support and promote the work of female (self-identified) film-makers. SWIFF is a female-run, not-for-profit organisation forged from a desire to create a platform to address gender inequity in the film industry. The goals of SWIFF are to enhance professional opportunities, and recognition and exposure for women in film, while simultaneously improving audience access to cinematic stories about women, as told by women. SWIFF launched in 2020 and has welcomed film and screenplay entries across a diversity of categories from both Australian and international female film-makers.
For more information contact:
Suzie Watt
Marketing Director
SWIFF
Media Contact
Sydney Women's International Film Festival suzie@swiff.org.au Unit 3 18 Ramsgate Ave http://www.swiff.org.au
